Penn in Latin America and the Caribbean's (PLAC) Fifth Annual Symposium: Presenter Abstracts, Bios, & Information Sheets September 30, October 1, and October 2, 2020 Wednesday, September 30, 2020: Symposium Opening Welcome: Antonia M. Villarruel, Professor and Margaret Bond Simon Dean of Nursing Opening Remarks: Wendell Pritchett, University Provost Wednesday, September 30, 2020: Session I: Social -- Cities, Economics, Politics, Law, and Education Moderator: Emilio Parrado, Dorothy Swaine Thomas Professor of Sociology; Director, Population Studies Ctr PRESENTATION ABSTRACTS • The Zoonotic Disease Research Laboratory in Arequipa, Peru Michael Levy, Associate Professor in Biostatistics, Epidemiology & Informatics, Perelman School of Medicine In Arequipa, Peru the UPenn/UPCH Zoonotic Disease Laboratory is working with the Ministry of Health to control Chagas disease, canine Rabies and bed bugs. • The Water System in Western Puerto Rico: Determining Vulnerabilities in a Changing Climate Alana Paccione, Department of Earth and Environmental Science, CAS This presentation will focus on water accessibility issues in Puerto Rico's western region due to climate change, and offer recommendations for mitigation. Alana’s overall research project evaluates the region’s current water infrastructure and its flaws, and highlights its resulting effect on community life in rural and urban areas. Additional Information in Appendix • Asylum from Central America Fernando Chang-Muy, Thomas O’Boyle Lecturer in Law, Carey School of Law This presentation will cover the U.S. definition of a refugee, and reasons why individuals from Central America leave their countries of origin and seek protection in the U.S. • Reporting on the Venezuelan Crisis Patrick Ammerman, MSW, Alumnus of School of Social Policy and Practice / 2019 PLAC Pulitzer Center Student Fellow Patrick Ammerman was the recipient of the 2019 PLAC Pulitzer Center Student Fellowship. He traveled to Colombia, where he interviewed recently arrived Venezuelan immigrants and refugees on themes ranging from health to employment to legal status. Patrick will share his key findings from the trip. • Out of sight, out of mind? Spillover Effects and the Pacifying Police Units (UPP) in Baixada Fluminese Maria Francesca Arruda de Amaral (C’20), Department of Criminology and International Relations This presentation explores the unintended consequences of the Pacifying Police Units initiative in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It intends to show how crime may have been displaced to other areas of the state, mainly the neighboring region of Baixada Fluminense. Additional Information in Appendix • Corporate Transitional Justice: Lessons from the Brazilian Experience Eduardo Saad-Diniz, Associate Professor of Criminology and Criminal Law, University of São Paulo, campus Ribeirão Preto; Latin American and Latinx Studies (additional bio here) Problematic accountability and corporate complicity with authoritarian regimes are frequently neglected in Latin American Studies. The current research aims to define what and how could be a next generation of transitional justice studies, based in the idea of holding corporations accountable for their support of atrocities and systematic human rights violations. The research also has a secondary purpose of raising the moral voice of the private sector against the rise of authoritarian trends in Latin America. • A Snapshot of the Menstrual Movement in Latin America Becca Bean (C’21, W’21), The Huntsman Program, Wharton Menstruation, particularly the menarche, has become an increasingly common topic of discussion among researchers and activists in Latin America and the Caribbean. This coupled with exposed and increased inequalities as a result of COVID-19 has helped bring about activism surrounding shattering stigma, policy change, and prioritizing especially vulnerable menstruators. This presentation will discuss each of these menstrual justice methodologies with examples from Mexico, El Salvador, and Chile. • Thinking Similarly, Operating Differently: The Cuban State and SNET's Approach to Technological Sovereignty Mariela Morales Suárez, Annenberg School for Communication, CARG, Graduate Student This presentation will cover how the state and local tech communities in Cuba are approaching and conceptualizing the notion of technological sovereignty and how they are deploying it through the practice of formal and informal societal roles. Additional Information in Appendix • The Marginal Returns on Distance Education on Achievement: Analyzing Mexico’s Telesecundaries. Gabrielle Vasey, PhD Candidate, Economics The transition between primary school and middle school can be challenging for students in developing countries, especially those in rural areas with limited access to middle schools. In Mexico, distance education schools called Telesecondaries offer a solution, however little research has been done on their quality. We estimate the marginal effects of attending a Mexican Teleseconday school on 7th grade Math and Spanish test scores. We find positive treatment effects of Telesecondaries on achievement, but these estimates mask considerable heterogeneity. • Inter-American Educational Leadership Network (RILE) Ivan Rosales Montes, Alumnus of the Graduate School in Education The Inter-American Educational Leadership Network (RILE) is a collaborative initiative focused on promoting educational improvement in school organizations in Latin America and the United States. It is currently made up of the faculty of education of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, the Graduate School of Education of the University of Pennsylvania, the department of education of the Universidad Católica de Uruguay and the faculty of education of the Universidad Católica de Córdoba, Argentina. Through these institutions, RILE offers various training opportunities and conducts research and development initiatives. Thursday, October 1, 2020: Session II: Scientific – Science, Technology, and Health Welcome: Glen N. Gaulton, Ph.D., Vice Dean; Professor of Pathology and Lab Medicine; and Director, Center for Global Health, Perelman School of Medicine Moderator: Kent Bream, Associate Professor, Family Medicine and Community Health; Director, Guatemala Health Initiative, Sayre Health Center, and Harnwell College House PRESENTATION ABSTRACTS • Penn Nursing - 30+ Years of Collaboration with the World Health Organization Antonia M. Villarruel, PhD, RN, FAAN, Professor and Margaret Bond Simon Dean of Nursing; Director of World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Nursing and Midwifery Leadership Penn Nursing has been a designated WHO Collaborating Center (CC) for more than 30 years. The focus of our CC is in the PAHO region and specifically in advancing leadership in nursing and midwifery. Our current commitments include work in Nicaragua to reduce maternal and newborn morbidity and mortality, in Suriname to increase nursing capacity in healthcare provision, and throughout the region advancing nursing doctoral-level education. • Service Learning: Clinical Care…Health Promotion…Popular Education in Guatemala Mamie Guidera, MSN, CNM, FACNM, Penn School of Nursing, Family & Community Health Penn Nursing has led educational exchange in Guatemala and Honduras for more than ten years. Students engage in health promotion and clinical care in Santiago Atitlan and gain more than they give through this experience. They work with local midwives, public health nurses, and hospital personnel. They also offer health education to school-age children and teens, using popular education techniques. • Community Health Needs Assessment in Bienvenido, Dominican Republic: Analyzing the social determinants of health in global, low-income Hispanic communities Cassidy Gallagher, Undergraduate Senior, School of Nursing This research project focused on identifying the social determinants of health that affect globally low- resourced Hispanic communities. The study took place in the town of Bienvenido, an impoverished ‘batey’ community in the Dominican Republic, in collaboration with the local nonprofit organization, The Bienvenido Project. A community health needs assessment was conducted through door-to-door surveys to identify the most common diseases among residents and their social determinants. • An Adaptive International Cardiology Curriculum accessible by remote distance learning (iCARDs-Haiti) Norrisa Haynes, MD, MPH, Cardiology Department As a cardiology fellow, I have developed a cardiology curriculum for the internal medicine (IM) trainees in Haiti in partnership with the IM chief residents at Hôpital Universitaire de Mirebalais (HUM). Given the increasing burden of cardiovascular disease throughout the Caribbean region, and the dearth of cardiologists, we partnered with local Haitian physicians and developed a sustainable, capacity –building cardiology curriculum for the IM residents at HUM. By combining the local expertise and experience of Haitian cardiologists with the recommended American College of Cardiology (ACC) core training competencies, we have developed a lecture series that utilizes a videoconference platform for curriculum delivery. We have demonstrated a quantifiable impact on the education of HUM’s IM trainees. With pre and post-survey assessments, we have demonstrated the efficacy and utility of our curriculum. We hope to empower and educate change agents who will implement this training and provide the best possible medical care within the constraints of locally available resources. •